Chapter 2
I stood perfectly still.
Outside the window, something moved beneath the security light.
For one terrible second, I expected a man to climb into our bedroom.
Instead, a small stone rolled across the windowsill.
Someone had thrown it from the backyard.
I looked toward Nia.
She was crying.
"Marcus, please close the window."
I stepped away from her.
"No."
Her eyes widened.
"What?"
"You're going to tell me what's happening."
She shook her head.
"Not while that person is outside."
My stomach tightened.
"So you admit someone is outside?"
She covered her face.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand.
Then I moved toward the hallway.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To check the security cameras."
Her expression changed.
"Marcus, don't."
I stopped.
"Why not?"
She said nothing.
I stared at her.
Two weeks earlier, our backyard camera had stopped working.
Nia told me she'd accidentally disconnected the router while cleaning.
I believed her.
Now I wasn't so sure.
I walked downstairs.
Nia followed me.
"Marcus, please listen."
I entered the kitchen and opened the security application.
The front door camera worked.
The driveway camera worked.
But the backyard camera displayed the same message it had shown for fourteen days.
OFFLINE.
I turned toward my wife.
"Did you disconnect that camera on purpose?"
Her eyes filled.
"Yes."
The word hit me like a punch.
I stared at her.
"Why?"
She looked down.
"Because someone told me to."
I felt sick.
"Who?"
She shook her head.
I grabbed my car keys.
"Fine. I'm going outside."
Nia rushed forward.
"No!"
She grabbed my arm.
"Marcus, please. You don't understand how dangerous this is."
I pulled away.
"Then make me understand!"
My voice echoed through the kitchen.
Nia flinched.
For a moment, guilt washed through me.
I had never wanted to frighten my wife.
But I couldn't understand why she was protecting the person who had been secretly approaching our bedroom.
I lowered my voice.
"Nia, are you in trouble?"
She looked up.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Yes."
My anger faltered.
"What kind of trouble?"
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
I took a breath.
"Is someone threatening you?"
She nodded.
My chest tightened.
"With what?"
Before she could answer, her second phone vibrated upstairs.
We both froze.
Then another notification sounded.
Nia looked terrified.
I walked back toward the staircase.
She followed.
When we reached the bedroom, the phone was still lying on the bed.
I picked it up.
Three new messages appeared.
"He's asking questions."
"Keep him away from the study."
"And remember what happens if you tell him."
I stared at the screen.
Then looked at Nia.
"They know what we're doing."
She nodded.
I felt cold.
"How?"
She began shaking.
I looked around the bedroom.
The lamps.
The television.
The smoke detector.
The decorative clock on the dresser.
Something wasn't right.
I moved toward the clock.
Nia immediately looked away.
My heart sank.
I picked it up.
It was a small digital clock she'd bought online three weeks earlier.
She said it helped her sleep because the display was easier to read.
I turned it over.
A tiny circular opening sat beneath the numbers.
I felt my breathing change.
"Nia."
She covered her mouth.
"Is this a camera?"
She nodded.
I stared at it.
Someone had been watching us.
Inside our bedroom.
I placed the clock face down on the dresser.
Then I covered it with a towel.
My hands were shaking.
"Who installed this?"
Nia whispered, "I did."
I stepped backward.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
My wife had secretly placed a camera in our bedroom.
She had disconnected our backyard security system.
She had hidden a second phone.
And someone had been coming to our window.
I felt like I was standing inside a stranger's house.
"Nia, why?"
She sank onto the bed.
"I thought I could fix everything before you found out."
I stared at her.
"Fix what?"
She wiped her face.
"Three months ago, I made a mistake."
My stomach tightened.
"What mistake?"
She looked at her hands.
"I borrowed money."
I frowned.
"From who?"
She hesitated.
"Someone I knew before we got married."
I felt my chest tighten again.
"A man?"
She nodded.
I looked away.
"How much?"
Her voice became barely audible.
"One hundred and twenty thousand dollars."
I turned back.
"What?"
She started crying harder.
"I was going to pay it back."
I stared at her.
"Nia, where did you get a debt that large?"
She swallowed.
"I invested in a business."
"What business?"
She looked down.
"A beauty supply company."
I shook my head.
"You told me you were saving money to open a salon."
"I was."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted to surprise you."
I felt my stomach twist.
A surprise.
That was what she called it.
A secret loan.
A hidden business.
A mysterious man outside our bedroom.
I sat on the edge of the bed.
"Who lent you the money?"
Nia looked toward the covered clock.
Then whispered a name.
"Caleb Monroe."
I froze.
I knew Caleb.
Not well.
But enough.
He was Nia's former boyfriend.
She had mentioned him once during our engagement.
She told me their relationship ended badly.
She said he was controlling.
She said she never wanted to see him again.
I looked at her.
"Caleb?"
She nodded.
My chest tightened.
"Your ex-boyfriend?"
"Yes."
I stood.
"You borrowed one hundred and twenty thousand dollars from your ex-boyfriend without telling me?"
She covered her face.
"I know how it sounds."
I laughed bitterly.
"No, Nia. I don't think you do."
She looked up.
"Marcus, I didn't cheat on you."
I stared at her.
"Then why is he asking whether I'm asleep?"
Her lips trembled.
"Because he wants access to your office."
The room went silent.
I looked toward the hallway.
My office.
The blue folder.
My father's inheritance.
Suddenly, the messages made sense.
I looked back at Nia.
"Caleb wants my property."
She nodded slowly.
I felt sick.
"And you've been helping him get inside our house."
She began crying.
"I didn't know he would go this far."
I stared at her.
"What have you already given him?"
She looked away.
"Nia."
Her voice broke.
"Copies of some documents."
I closed my eyes.
"What documents?"
She whispered, "The papers from your father's estate."
My stomach dropped.
I stared at my wife.
For three years, I'd trusted her with everything.
My money.
My home.
My heart.
And now I was learning that she'd given private family documents to another man.
I took a slow breath.
"Where are the originals?"
She looked toward the hallway.
"In your study."
I started walking.
Nia grabbed my arm.
"Marcus, wait."
I turned.
"What now?"
Her face was pale.
"Caleb said if I didn't help him tonight, he'd expose something about my family."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She began crying again.
"My father."
I frowned.
"What about your father?"
Nia swallowed.
Then whispered something that made my anger disappear for a moment.
"Marcus, my father didn't die in that car accident."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
May you like
"He's alive."
And suddenly, I realized my wife had been hiding far more than a secret phone.
